The Gift of the Miraculous
by xxrosethorn
Summary: Marinette and Adrien struggle what to get each other for Christmas to show how much they mean to each other. Loosely inspired by "The Gift of the Magi".


Marinette liked to be prepared when it came to giving gifts to her friends and family. She always put a lot of thought into each gift, hoping that it would make the intended person as happy as could be.

For Alya, she had decided on making a video (from Ladybug) promising an exclusive interview at some point in the near future.

For Nino, Marinette designed him a personal CD cover that consisted of his own music he had created.

For her parents, she had made each of them a new apron with their names personally inscribed.

The only two people she struggled to find a gift for was Adrien, her long-time crush, and Chat Noir, her long-time partner. She valued them both, but couldn't decide what would be an appropriate gift for each of them.

Christmas was fast approaching and she only had a week to make something for the two boys in her life.

/

It was a Friday, two days before Christmas, when Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Adrien decided to hang out at a coffee shop before parting for the holidays. They laughed, shared stories, and drank warm hot chocolate.

Marinette always blushed when she saw Adrien wearing the scarf she had made him some time ago. As far as she knew, Adrien still believed it was from his father and Marinette was content letting him believe it. She had initially considered knitting him a matching beanie, but decided against it. If Adrien put the dots together, she would feel awful.

It was hard for Marinette not to lose herself while looking at her crush. _What would Adrien love_, she repeated endlessly in her mind. Despite being a model, she knew that he wasn't really into fashion. What she loved about Adrien was that he didn't particularly care for objects. He far more valued his friendships.

Adrien ordered another round hot chocolate for the group and pulled out his wallet to pay.

"You don't have to do that, Adrien!" Marinette protested. Out of instinct, she launched herself across the table to stop him from paying. In surprise, he dropped his wallet and an old photo slipped out.

"Sorry!" Marinette struggled to apologize as she bent over to give him back the photo, but not before glancing at who was in the photo. She paused before handing it back to him.

"Is that your mother?"

Adrien looked at the photo sadly, but with a small smile. Marinette knew that look of sadness. Of longing. "Yeah, I like to carry her around with me."

_I like to carry her around with me_, Marinette repeated his words before an idea sparked in her mind. Without warning, the dark-haired girl collected her things, profusely apologized, claimed she had to help her parents at the bakery, and rushed off.

/

The town was busy as everyone struggled to collect the last minute gifts. Marinette stalked every store, every shop, every aisle in search of something for what she had in mind for Adrien. It was only at the last store before everything closed for the day did she find the perfect thing. She smiled to herself, happy with the purchase.

As for what she got Chat Noir, she decided that perhaps the black cat needed a lucky charm of his own, and made him a bracelet similar to what she had given Adrien a while back.

/

Adrien banged his head against the wall. He had spent weeks trying to decide what to give Ladybug. He wanted to give her something as special as she was and to convince her that his feelings were pure and true.

Flowers were too common. Candy didn't hold enough meaning. He couldn't find the right words for a poem. Everything seemed to work against him.

"I'm sure Ladybug would appreciate anything from you," Plagg said nonchalantly as he gobbled another piece of Camenbert.

"_I know_," he said dramatically. "But that's what makes it so hard. I don't want her to just appreciate it. I want it to make her see how much I love her."

"Cheese is always a good option," the black Kwami suggested.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Only _you_ would want cheese for Christmas."

"You know me so well."

Adrien spent the next half hour searching on the internet for something worthy of his lady. When he quit the program, he looked at his desktop background of his mother.

"If you were here, you would know what to do," he whispered glumly. An idea popped in his mind and suddenly, he knew what he needed to get the love of his life.

/

Marinette's friends decided that it would be nice to exchange gifts Christmas Eve. Marinette fretted in anxiety, hoping that Adrien would like her gift. She had a feeling he would, but she never knew with him.

The four friends all exchanged their gifts for each other at the same time, but each would take their turn opening them.

Alya received Marinette's video of Ladybug first, which caused a squeal that might possibly cause deafness. Alya squeezed her best friend so hard and Marinette struggled to breathe for a moment there.

"H-how!?" Her best friend asked, stunned.

Marinette smirked. "I'm actually Chat Noir and begged Ladybug to make this for you," she said with a laugh. The four friends shared a chuckle but Alya knew that the truth would not be revealed.

From Adrien, Alya received a new, high-end camera for her blog. As for Nino, Alya got a card that caused her to blush and punch him before giving him a peck on the lips.

For Nino, Marinette's gift was "super dope" as he called it and the others agreed. Adrien got him a new pair of headphones, knowing that Nino had broken his previous ones. The two bros shared a hug. Alya had managed to get him a real gig for his DJing due to her journalism connections.

Now was Marinette's turn. She was ecstatic when Alya had given her a new sewing kit. Nino produced her a lovely mixtape. As for Adrien, she almost fainted at his gift.

"I know it's not much," he tried to deny. "But I know how much you admire my father-"

He was interrupted by a sudden hug from the girl. "Thank you," she half-whispered, half-cried. "This is one of the best gifts I've ever received. I love it."

Marinette was holding an invitation to one of Gabriel Agreste's exclusive fashion shows and she knew that Adrien must have worked hard to ask his father for such a commodity.

Finally, it was Adrien's turn. Alya had given him a signed poster of Ladybug (which caused Marinette to blush). Nino gave his best friend a playlist of songs that "emulated their friendship". He opened Marinette's gift last and was completely stunned to see what it was.

Inside a small box was a gold locket that could fit a small picture. "I thought you might want to put that photo of your mom there," Marinette explained shyly. "It would be terrible if something happened to the photo, but this way, it won't be lost and you can keep it close to your heart."

Internally, Adrien wanted to cry at her words. Without warning, just as Marinette had done before, he embraced the kind girl who had put so much thought into her gifts. "This was perfect," he whispered to her and in that moment, Marinette was ready to die.

/

Ladybug and Chat Noir had agreed to patrol Christmas evening to make sure that there wasn't any Santa akumas hanging about. Both had planned to deliver each other's gifts that night as well.

The two superheroes relaxed on the rooftops of Paris, enjoying each other's company and the peaceful Christmas night. "Ladybug," Chat Noir began nervously. "I have a gift for you."

Ladybug smiled warmly and Chat Noir's insides stirred. Just being around her made him feel like goo. He revealed a small, neatly-wrapped box and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Chat," she said before setting it aside and handing him a gift of his own. "It's not much," she warned. "But I've heard that it may have some good luck."

Ladybug opened her box first. In her gift, she saw a beautiful silver charm bracelet. Attached was a ladybug charm (of course), a pawprint charm (also obvious), a heart charm, and a feather charm. "This is beautiful," she said, tears in her eyes.

"The ladybug represents you," he started to explain. "The pawprint is me and the heart is my love for you… and the feather…" Chat hesitated, swallowing his words. "The feather… was my mom's."

Ladybug's eyes widened at the last part. "Chat, I can't take this! It's too much!" She tried to hand it back, but he refused.

"Not at all, M'lady," he said with a smile. "You are worth all that and more. _I love you, Ladybug_," he confessed and Ladybug, for the first time, actually believed it.

When it came to Chat's gift, he was amazed and shocked. It was also a bracelet, but a handmade one. He recognized the style immediately and was about to ask when Ladybug said something that startled him.

"I made that myself. Someone told me it grants some good luck so I thought you could use some of that," she admitted.

The 'lucky charm' was almost identical to Adrien's, but instead sported a Chat Noir-themed style of green and black. And suddenly, it all made sense to him and he couldn't help but laugh.

Ladybug frowned, not understanding. Was he making fun of her? She pouted, about to protest, when Chat Noir decided to release his transformation without warning.

"Chat! What are you doing-" It was too late, the damage was done, and before Ladybug was none other than Adrien Agreste.

"You are truly my luck charm_, Marinette_," he said with a Chat Noir grin.

Ladybug froze, staring at Adrien, who was actually Chat Noir, who was her crush, who _just confessed to being in love with her_.

It took her a moment. A solid 90 seconds before Ladybug managed to actually say something coherent.

"You aren't getting a gift next year," she said. "Not when you got two this year."

With a sudden amount of courage that she didn't know she had (perhaps it was the fact that she was currently Ladybug), she grabbed Adrien and kissed him. He looked shocked and happy at the same time and Ladybug smirked. "Make that three."


End file.
